Nether War
The "Nether War" was a two and a half year long conflict between Netheric forces, led by the Void Devourer, and the nations of New Voldrania after decades of conspiracy and on-and-off conflict. The term "Nether War" refers specifically to the event which occurred between 74 and 76 AE; the events which led up to this conflict are often referred to as the "Nether Conspiracy" instead. The war was primarily waged by the Void Devourer itself, with the apparent intent to destroy the Overworld and all life within it, so that it would be able to effortlessly allow the Nether realm to consume it. Fortunately the New Voldranian nations were ultimately able to rally together and push back the Devourer's forces in an attack that also resulted in the Devourer's demise. Prelude to War The Nether Conspiracy that ultimately resulted in the Nether War dated back decades, to Voldrania, where evidence of the Void Devourer's meddling in the Overworld was first discovered in the late 40s in Akarv. The investigation into the newly discovered "Void rifts" proved fruitless, and in the end they ultimately led to the utter collapse of Voldranian geography in 60 AE, in an event referred to as "The Fall of Voldrania". This ultimately resulted in the regions inhabitants resettling in New Voldrania, where they once again discovered evidence of the Void Devourer's meddling. At this point the Inversion, an ancient guardian of the Void, had gotten involved and was able to largely prevent the creation of more rifts, but this didn't stop the Devourer and its Netheran conspirators from continuing on with their planned destruction. Over the next decade Netheran conspirators continued to plague the nations, and information about the Devourer, its past, and its goals slowly came to light, primarily through investigations of the ancient Trikash ruins in the Midlands. Enough evidence was eventually gathered to indicate that the Devourer would make its move at the turning of the Krolesk'Kan age, and some of the more paranoid nations took this as a cue to ready their defenses, and even prepare preliminary strikes against the Devourer and any Netheric forces it might make use of. War for the World In the first few days of 74 AE the world suddenly found itself under attack on all fronts by countless swarming Netheric creatures. Whether they were blazes and ghasts in the sky or Pigmen and human Netherans on the ground, almost no region of New Voldrania was left untouched. The panic caused by this sudden attack, which came with absolutely no warning, left most nations unfit to immediately deal with the crisis, allowing the invading Netheric forces to easily gain a significant foothold. Only a few of the most notable battles and moments are mentioned below. Akarvian First Response The nation Akarv was quickly able to determine the location of the Void Devourer's primary entryway into the Overworld, a massive portal in the eastern sea, and sent the bulk of their fleets in an attempt to cut the Void Devourer's forces off from the source. Unfortunately they were met with far heavier resistance than they ever anticipated, and their fleets were quickly overwhelmed by the aerial Netheric invaders, who shot down or outright burned up Akarv's naval forces. The loss remains one of the most crushing defeats in the nations history, and with much of their fleet destroyed, Akarv was unable to defend itself from one of the worst fronts of the invasion. Battle of Krolesk In the midst of the war, prominent Netheran and former Krolesk'Kan ruler Jason Vrock executed a far more organized attack on the Krolesk'Kan capital, backed by an army of Netheric forces. The attack further weakened Krolesk'kan defenses, and ultimately led to the assassination of many of Krolesk's prominent leaders. The battle waged on until usually quiet Navishk forces intervened, and helped turn the tide in Krolesk's favor. After a grueling battle Jason Vrock was killed, sending his forces into complete and utter disarray. This boost to Krolesk'Kan morale allowed them to fight the invaders out of Dawnguard, and put the nation onto the path to establishing a solid counterattack. Alred Hostage Crisis As Akarv continued to reel from its losses, it suffered yet another significant blow to its morale as the former Lirun bodyguard Lao invaded their capital city Alred, and took its central hospital hostage with the help of various Netheric forces and a hired Mercenary. With the hospital treating a significant number of patients, including soldiers wounded in the fighting, a direct assault to reclaim it was impossible. With few options, national officials, originally led by then Sergeant Henry Khan, attempted to negotiate with Lao and her Mercenary ally, while secretly sending in SANA agents to silently dispatch the Netheric forces inside. Ulles Wolhol, the infiltrator in the mission, managed to eliminate all of the hostile Netheric forces, including a feral Nether Spirit, before opening both Lao and the Mercenary to outside fire. In the end both Lao and the Mercenary were captured, providing a much needed morale boost to the nation as a whole. Formation of the Anti-Nether Response Team In the aftermath of the Alred hostage crisis, Akarv found a renewed sense of purpose and vigor. Military registration spiked, and their leaders buckled down to find a solution to the ever growing problem of the war. An Akarvian General, Dakota Peerk, pushed through the idea that Akarv, or any single nation, was incapable of handling the crisis alone, and that the only way to take on the Void Devourer was to pool the entire regions resources into a single, calculated counterattack. The plan gained momentum, and soon after negotiations began with almost every other nation in the world. Most signed on to the initiative, with Peerk herself oversaw. Within just a few months the allied nations had come together and built a massive fleet ready to take on the Devourer's forces. The alliance, referred to as the "Anti-Nether Response Team", also came to the decision that a smaller strike team needed to be sent into the Nether to deal with the Devourer directly, while the fleets fought off its forces. There were countless volunteers, but ultimately only a few select agents from several of the allied nations were chosen to go on the mission. In the June of 76 AE the fleets mobilized, and made their way to the Devourer's front line. The Final Assault It didn't take long for the fleets to reach the Devourer's portal, nor did it take long for the Devourer to realize what they were attempting. Fortunately, the nations had largely prepared themselves to better deal with the onslaught of Netheric fire and explosives. Lirun support ships not only provided medical support, but also indirectly acted as a barrier against Nether Spirits, while many of the front line aerial and sea vessels had been retrofitted with steel and obsidian armor, better able to resist damage than the previously common wooden designs. Still, despite their best efforts the fleets likely would have lost in the long run. Soon after the battle began, though, the strike team arrived via submarine and stealthily ascended their way up the portals Netheric spire into the Nether. While in the Nether the team was forced to face off against multiple powerful Nether Spirits, including the prominent nightmare-spirit Kistiki, before they were able to advance through the Devourer's fortress. They eventually came across a prison cell which contained, most notably, an aged and dying Alan Fruith, who claimed to have been imprisoned for his failures in Voldrania. After begging for death, the team left him behind, advancing on to face off against the Devourer itself. Despite being some of the most skilled warriors in the world, the team found that they were absolutely no match for the Devourer. Were it not for the intervention of the Inversion they likely would have been killed. Fortunately though it did intervene, and though it was weakened from years of preventing and closing void rifts, it was still able to weaken the Devourer enough to allow the team to fight it. Now on more equal footing, the team managed to beat down the Devourer until, finally, Ralkish warrior Myre managed to land a single, well placed arrow that seemed to incapacitate the Devourer, resulting in its collapse into the lava below. Immediately after the Devourer's fall, the Netheric forces around the Overworld halted their attack, while the ones within the Nether became even more unstable and hostile. As they fired upon the fortress, likely indignant over the Devourer's unnatural influence over them, it began to collapse. In a final moment of assistance the Inversion teleported the team back to the Overworld, just outside the rapidly closing portal. By this point the bulk of the Netheric forces had already been defeated due to confusion or retreated back to their home realm. Despite the odds, their defeating the Void Devourer successfully led to the end of the Nether War. Aftermath After the Void Devourer was defeated the Netheric forces under its control experienced an almost immediate shift in aggression. They no longer razed or attack Overworld settlements, instead choosing to funnel their way back into their home realm. Within weeks the world had gone silent, the war having ended, but the damage still remained. Most major cities and even countrysides were scorched in the fighting, forcing the nations to put all their effort into repairing the damage that had been done. Because of this, most nations ended up isolating themselves from the rest of the world, choosing to lick their wounds independently of one another. While the ANRT alliance was immediately dissolved, its formation proved to the world that the nations of Voldrania could come together in times of crisis, a fact which likely appealed to the silently watching Monitor, who likely delayed his planned hostile takeover because of it. Category:Events Category:New Voldranian Events